Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Ham and Green Coral Blini Sandwiches : IHCC

"Sandwich Sensations!", our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). I think most of us love sandwiches, burgers or wraps. They make a great meal for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. I was looking through Donna Hay's website, and found this wonderful blini recipe that makes a delicious sandwich.

The original name of this sandwich is Smoked Chicken and Fennel Blini Sandwiches, which uses smoked chicken slices and young baby fennel. I do not have both these ingredients and have replaced with sandwich ham and green coral leaves instead.

First, make the blinis. Very simple and easy, these are actually a thicker and bigger version of pancakes. The recipes uses plain flour with a little amount of buckwheat flour, but I have used all plain flour instead. Mix the dry ingredients, flour, salt, yeast in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and sour cream (I used homemade yoghurt) until lukewarm and whisk in the egg yolks. Stir into the dry ingredients, and keep covered with a damp tea towel in a warm place for 30 minuts until bubbles appear on the surface. The egg whites are then whisked to soft peaks and stirred into the mixture to combine. Grate two garlic cloves and add that to the mixture, mixing it well. Heat a saucepan, lightly greased, and scoop about 1/3 cup, spreading the batter into a round. Cook until bubbles appear on surface, flip blini over, and cook the other side. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

I have made double the amount of recipe for the blinis, and got me 5 large blinis (about 18cm diameter).

Prepare the mayonnaise spread. Mix the mayonnaise (I use the regular mayonnaise) with grated lemon zest in a bowl. Both my kids and myself, love this mayonnaise-lemon zest mixture! It is so good, I would use this combination when I use mayonnaise for sandwich the next time! Smells so lemony nice!

To assemble the blini sandwiches : Spread a generous amount of the mayo-lemon mixture on one blini, place some salad greens over, top with some sliced deli ham, and sprinkle some shredded basil leaves over. Top with another piece of blini over.

Ham and Green Coral Blini Sandwiches

Slice to quarters and serve. This is so delicious! If you have not tried the combination of mayo-lemon zest, do give it a try. The blinis are soft-tender, very tasty and has a light fragrance from the garlic, which is really very pleasant, a great addition for a savoury touch. Though I have not used any fresh fennel, as it is not always available here, the green coral works very well, I guess, any green veggies that works in a salad would be great. I wanted to add some sliced cucumbers, but I have forgotten to buy them, only realised that when I reached home from the supermarket!

Overall review : A delicious blini sandwich. My kids and myself, we had a most delicious lunch! Yum!

Fold the garlic through the blini mixture. Heat a lightly greased non-stick 18cm-frying pan over medium heat. Spoon half of the blini mixture into the pan and spread to cover the base. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until golden. Repeat with remaining blini mixture. Allow to cool.

Place the mayonnaise and lemon rind in a bowl and stir to combine. Spread one of the blinis with the mayonnaise mixture and top with fennel, basil, chicken and chives. Sandwich with the remaining blini, cut into wedges and serve with lemon. Serves 4.

Place the plain and buckwheat flours, salt and yeast in a bowl and stir to combine. Place the milk and sour cream in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until lukewarm. Add the egg yolk and whisk to combine. Gradually add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Cover with a clean, damp cloth and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface.

Whisk the egg white until soft peaks form, add to the mixture and stir well to combine. Heat a lightly greased, large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook teaspoonfuls of the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip and cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool. Makes 30.

To see what everyone are having for breakfast, drop by IHCC. You might just be inspired to join us! For more details about joining in, click here.

I'm so excited that you chose this recipe because I thought it looked delicious over on her site. I've never had a blini but it looks something like a pancake. The lemony mayo you described sounds delicious and I know this sandwich would be a big hit with my family. Looks delicious!

Hi Joyce!I never realized Blini was made form a yeast dough. Thanks for that! You are amazing when it comes to making these recipes your own. Once again you have been so creative. I love that you used home made yogurt. I usually use it in pancakes but never in Blini because I have never made them before, lol...I sure do want to now! They are so yummy and in a sandwich like this, they must be delicious!

What a fun idea to have a bilini sandwich...that looks really delicious. I have never heard of green coral before and I just love it when I get to learn something new. It all looks wonderful, great photos of it as well.

I've bookmarked this one to try. I have fennel on hand, and I would happily buy some smoked chicken to go in this kind of sandwich. I love the use of the blini instead of bread - definitely elevates a sandwich to something more special.

I have never made blini before and I have only had them spread with cream cheese and salmon. I love the look of them as sandwiches--especially with that lemony mayo spread. Yum! Thanks for sharing them with Souper Sundays. ;-)

About Me

Welcome to my kitchen! My name is Joyce and I'm currently residing in Selangor, Malaysia. I love to bake and trying out new recipes from my ever increasing collection of cookbooks.
You may contact me at kitchenflavours@yahoo.com
Thank you for stopping by!

Copyright Statement

All photographs and written posts contents featured at kitchen flavours solely belong to mycookinggallery.blogspot.com, unless otherwise stated. Any party interested to use any photographs or contents, either full or partial, or intended for a repost, please request for prior permission. If request is approved, please give full credit and post a link direct to this site. Please do not change, alter or amend any contents without prior consent.